JNPR, Together
by Your Caffeine Queen
Summary: The remnants of team JNPR have spent the last few years fighting Grimm, but the battle is not without losses or hardships. One chapter for each of the four. Will be updated whenever I finish the chapters.
1. Chapter 1 - Jaune

The world burned before Jaune Arc's eyes.

During his years as a Huntsman, he'd seen cities rise and fall, homes torn from their foundations and tossed by creatures hellbent on killing, and people falling victim to the cruelty he'd failed to defeat. But never on such a large scale or in such a dramatic display. This was not a small, contained incident—this was an entire kingdom being devoured by flames. It was a horrifying sight, one that sent chills down his spine.

At his side stood Ren and Nora, both with their weapons drawn and ready. While they'd grown in the three years since the beginning of their days on the field, he could tell the work was tearing them apart from the inside. Not the work itself—the failures that came along with it. The towns they'd lost to their own mistakes and the innocent people who'd succumbed to wounds they couldn't prevent. The friends who hadn't survived dangerous encounters, while they had. Upon arriving at Beacon, they'd been aware of the risks of hunting Grimm, but it was never easy seeing their friends and allies fall. The toll it had taken was written across their faces, etched in the newly formed lines that came from frowning and crying over their losses.

Jaune glanced at his friends. Over time, Nora had lost the bright-eyed look she'd kept throughout her time at Beacon, instead replacing it with a persistent frown. When she noticed him watching her, she tried for a smile. It was barely a fraction of her old one, a simple attempt to mask her sadness and pain, but he appreciated it nonetheless. When this was all over, she'd have the chance to live the life she deserved.

Next to Nora, Ren hadn't taken his eyes from the flames since they'd approached the blaze. He appeared much older than he was, his eyes dark and surrounded by deep shadows. Nightmares plagued him night after night, tearing him from his sleep. On the days following a large battle, he didn't bother trying to fall asleep. It weighed on him.

Ren stepped forward. "There are civilians in there," he said. He was quieter than usual. It was a familiar tone.

"What are you not telling me?" Nothing from his teammate, so he pushed further. "What aren't you telling me?"

There was a frown and a moment of hesitation that made Jaune worry. Whatever Ren was keeping from him, it was big. And something he needed to know.

Nora placed one hand on his arm and pulled Ren close with the other one. "You need to tell him," she murmured. "He deserves to know. This isn't something you can't tell him, Ren." She looked towards the flames, tears pooling in her eyes. In the light from the fire, the sharp lines of her face were oddly defined, the shadows contrasting with the bright planes of her cheeks. The lighting made her look older, more mature. And somehow, more haunted. "Tell him."

"Team RWBY sent a report earlier today. The cities on the outskirts of the kingdom were evacuated, the inhabitants brought to this town," Ren said with a defeated sigh, his eyes falling to the ground, "Including the one your family lives in. They weren't accounted for in the people brought over to the next town when the Grimm invaded this one. We think they're still in there. Your whole family."

His knees buckled.

 _No._

He thought of his sisters. Saphron, the eldest, encouraging him to go to Beacon and do what he wanted. Scarlette, just younger than him, forging his transcripts while he was busy worrying. Azura and Blanche, ten and eleven respectively, helping him pack for the trip. Carmina and Clementine, the twins, giving him cookies they'd baked as he was leaving. And Isra, only six years old, crying as she watched him walk down the path that led to the nearest big city.

They couldn't be in that city. They couldn't be caught in a burning house. He needed to get them out.

He wouldn't let them die.

Nora's hand tightened around his arm when he tried taking a step forwards. "There is no way you can go in there, Jaune. Please don't try," she pleaded. "There's already a team in there and you can't risk it. Please don't risk it."

With a shrug, he removed her hand from his arm. It took some effort to pry her fingers off but he managed and walked towards the burning city. "I can't risk my siblings. I can't take that chance. They're in there and I don't want to lose them. Not them too."

"If you insist, let us come as well," Ren said. "That's a big city, and we don't know where they are. We can cover more ground by splitting up."

Jaune shook his head. "Neither of you are following me," he told them. "You two needed elsewhere, and I need to help my family." He couldn't lose them as well, not like he'd lost Pyrrha. He couldn't let them slip away. He needed to try. All he could do was try.

Nora ran forwards and pulled him into a hug, her head reaching the top of his ribs. Ren joined in the hug, and they stood there like that. Seconds turned to minutes, but none let go.

Memories flooded him of their first day as a team. Of their training sessions, with Nora grinning brightly as she smashed training dummies to pieces. Of Ren cooking in their dorm while the other three gathered around and watched their favourite movies over and over. Of the obstacles they'd overcome, from Pyrrha's death to the first entire town they'd lost to Grimm. Memories he cherished about the people he loved the most. They were his family as well. He'd be lost without them.

"Stay safe," Nora murmured with a frown as she stepped away into Ren's arms, wiping at her face to hide the tears. "Come back to us."

With a nod, Jaune gripped his sword and ran towards the burning homes. The heat was almost unbearable, flames licking at his arms and legs the further he went into the city. Behind him, wooden beams from already crumbling houses fell and blocked his path. There was no going back now.

Picking up his pace, he listened for screams. Crying. Anything that would help him find his sisters in the blaze. The smoke made it difficult to breathe, forcing him to untie Pyrrha's sash from his waist and tie it back around his face. It wouldn't solve the problem but was better than nothing. He couldn't let smoke inhalation keep him from saving his family.

With every step into the rubble, he was losing hope. There was no indication of them anywhere, but out of nowhere, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Saphron?" he called back. It had to be her. "Saphron, where are you?"

Again, his name. "On your right! We're all in the house on your right!"

Sure enough, in a flaming building on his right stood Saphron and the others. They were peering out the window, Isra in Saphron's arms and the rest huddled around them. The front door of the house was erupting with flames and he assumed the bottom floor was the same. There was only one possible exit, and he was going to get them out.

"Throw her out the window! I'll catch her," Jaune promised, stepping as close as he could without endangering himself. "It's your only chance!"

His eldest sister looked conflicted for a moment before sighing, murmuring something to Isra, and tossing her out of the window and towards the ground. Time seemed to slow and his heart beat faster and faster as the baby of the family came plummeting down, down, _down_ , racing towards the ground and falling—

—into his waiting arms.

She threw her arms around his neck and coughed, cried, tried murmuring to him. With a shake of his head he kissed her forehead. "You're safe."

One after the other, the rest of his sisters jumped from the window. Clementine and Carmina and Blanche and Azure and Scarlette and finally, Saphron.

They were all safe for the time being, but he still needed to get them out.

Without speaking, he motioned for Saphron to lead them out as quickly as possible. She nodded and led them down side roads and through alleyways, past the most ruined parts of the city and places where Grimm still roamed. At last, a clearing appeared at the end of the road before them. They were almost there.

Each of his sisters passed him and ran towards the clearing. Ran to safety.

He paused on the road and glanced back at the city ablaze, wondering if anyone was left inside. He should've gone back to check, he should've tried helping more people—

"Jaune! The beam!" Saphron called, a split second too late.

Around him, the two nearest houses splintered and fell, their wooden frames crashing down and creating a barricade that blocked his path. As he turned to look at the houses, he saw one last beam falling and turned to run away.

Too late.

It caught him across the back and pinned him to the ground, the fire dancing across it. Soon, his clothes were ablaze and he felt nothing but excruciating pain.

 _"It'll be alright, Jaune."_ Pyrrha—he was hearing Pyrrha over the sound of his screams and the destruction. _"You'll be okay. I'm here. I never left."_

 _"I'm with you, now and forever. I love you."_

And as he felt the pain overtake him, as he felt himself slipping away, he tried murmuring back, "I love you, too."


	2. Chapter 2 - Nora

Nora did not mourn for the fall of the kingdoms. She couldn't mourn for them, not when they'd turned their backs on the very people they were trying to protect. Not when they'd abandoned the civilians to a fate that could've been avoided—death at the hands of the Grimm.

It was not the first time the people in charge of the kingdoms had left behind their duty, but despite that, she would not leave hers behind.

Following Jaune's death, it had been difficult for her and Ren to continue hunting the Grimm. The loss reminded them both of Pyrrha's death and stole from them the person they'd considered their leader and their best friend. Without Jaune, old wounds were reopened. They mourned once more for the teammate who'd fallen years ago along the way as well as for their selfless leader who didn't deserve the death he'd received.

But the Grimm were growing in numbers and every day, more Huntsmen and Huntresses fell. They'd watched Coco Adel being torn apart in a mess of blood and bones, had seen Neptune Vasilias fall to his death off the edge of a chasm while trying to protect his friends, and couldn't shake the memories of Professor Port and Professor Oobleck fighting back-to-back until they were outnumbered and outmatched, unable to fight the barrage of monsters any longer and subjected to gruesome deaths they did not deserve either.

Some nights, Nora swore she could still hear every single one of them scream.

It became increasingly clear that she could not turn her back on the people, even if those same people had turned their back on the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Once Jaune's sisters were safe and sound in a proper refuge set up by some older workers and some volunteers who no longer had work elsewhere, she and Ren left. The sisters were still mourning, and though she wanted to stay and help them get through it, she had things to do elsewhere. There was more work to be done.

There would always be more work to be done, and fewer people to do it.

"You have that look on your face again," Ren mentioned as they headed on foot to the next town over. An incoming message that morning had warned of an imminent Grimm attack on a small farming town less than two hours away from the refuge, and they'd decided to go and help out there. "Hollow. What are you thinking about?"

 _Leave it to him to be able to read me_ , she thought. "The towns. The people. Our friends. Everything." Giving the road before them one last look, she stopped and turned towards him. "Do you think they're alright? RWBY?" Out of all the teams formed in their first year—around twenty of them or so—RWBY was one of the few teams whose numbers were intact. Sure, they bore the scars of past trauma, but at least all four were still alive. For now.

"I think they're capable of surviving," he replied without stopping or slowing down. "I think you should worry less. They're fine. They're strong."

His pace and longer strides forced Nora to jog a little in order to catch up and reach his side once more. "So were the others." _So was Pyrrha. So was Jaune_. And look at what happened to them. She didn't need to speak the words for Ren to hear them, loud and clear. His face darkened and she immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't say anything." He shut his eyes and took deep breaths. "You're not to blame."

She tried being comforting the way she usually did in situations like this one—placing a hand on his arm, giving him a smile—but he brushed her away.

The rest of the walk was dreadfully silent, with only the sound of their footsteps against the dirt road and their shallow breaths keeping her from going insane. She longed for a normal conversation. With Ren in a constant state of emotional turmoil, it was difficult to discuss anything the way they once had in the past. Their relationship had come to a grinding halt, and with every passing day she found herself slipping further and further from him, falling down an involuntary slope that only tore them both apart. It was a painful thought, thinking of the possibility that they'd never be close the way they once had, and she set it aside as the town appeared before her.

"Look!" she called with a forced cheery tone. "There's an inn right there, and it doesn't seem like any Grimm have gotten here yet. We can still save this place, Ren. These people still have a chance."

He shook his head, and she followed his gaze to the fence lining the town. It was torn down and crushed along with the trees that bordered it. Splinters were jabbed at precarious angles into the ground, some with familiar red splatters across the rotting wood. The town still stood, but they'd arrived too late once more. There was nothing they could do but search for survivors and help out the injured.

From next to the inn, a figure dressed in poorly stitched clothing and sporting an unkempt beard motioned then towards the building. She and Ren exchanged a look but followed him into the foyer. It was cheaply decorated and smelled of farm, but she didn't expect much more and didn't need anything else, either. It was a comfort to simply have a safe place to assess the damage.

"Please, take a seat." The innkeeper nodded towards a table that leaned a little too much to one side. "I'll be right with you."

While Nora took the opportunity and sat down right when he offered, Ren was a little more cautious, scanning the inn and checking the table twice before taking a seat next to her. Neither spoke as they waited for the man to return.

He did so within minutes, holding two bowls of what appeared to be chunky stew. "You can eat while I'm talkin'," he said. "I know your type, and you're always eatin', always hungry. I also know that you can help us. Let me tell you what happened before you got here.

"Nobody was expectin' it, of course—you never really expect Grimm attack till it hits and you're in the middle of it. Was a bunch of the snake ones, at least four of them, and we only had two Huntsmen in town at the time. They got two of them down but two are still around here, waitin' to strike. Our Huntsmen—they're wounded and can't fight. We need your help. Please."

She didn't hesitate to give him a nod and finish the stew. "I'll help." Though Ren didn't speak, she saw him offer the innkeeper a nod as well.

The man thanked them for everything and promised payment, which they turned down, assuring him that it was their duty to help out. He locked himself back in the inn, leaving them to find their way around the town. As they walked, Nora's eyes landed on a pair of children huddled around the back of the inn, covered in a ratty blanket and shivering from the cold. It was late autumn and with the changing seasons, far too cold for them to be out like that.

 _Orphans_ , she thought as Ren continued past without so much as a second glance. Her hand shot out and wrapped around his arm. "Let's take them to the inn and convince our new friend to give them shelter, some food. We can bargain and say that it's a fair trade for our help."

"We need to stop these Grimm first," he replied. "They're the priority."

"You know these kids won't survive out here like this—it's getting darker and colder, and they have nothing but that blanket. There's no way we can just leave them here," she argued. "The Grimm can wait, at least for a few minutes."

He turned on the ball of his foot to face her, his expression still calm but impatient. "I am not going to risk an entire town for a pair of orphans, Nora. I am not going to take my chances with this. If we wait to stop them, we are endangering everyone here. We would be taking a chance that could lead to more orphans, to more families being torn apart. I, for one, am not willing to take that chance."

"They're innocents, Ren. We were orphans, left on the street, we can't just—"

At that, his expression changed from calm impatience to something furious. "Don't use that in your argument. We were orphans because they _left_ the Grimm roaming around long enough to make us orphans. I am not making the same mistakes they did. If you want to stay here, waste your time and risk that, go ahead. I'm going to save a town."

She didn't watch him storm off, instead brushing away the new tears that sprung from his harsh words. Offering one hand to each of the orphans, she led them to the inn.

Before she could knock on the large doors, the sound of wood snapping and of screaming found her. _Grimm_.

The children knew to run as she drew Magnhild. Her eyes scanned the area around the inn, finally landing on a two-headed snake approaching the fence. From what she knew about this species of Grimm, they weren't usually found around here at all. But it wasn't the time to wonder how it had gotten there. She needed to act.

Using the rest of the town's chaos as a distraction, she ran towards the Grimm and attacked, only to be knocked away by a strong sweep that sent her flying into a tree. She barely had the time to dive away before it lunged at her, each sharp fang coated in a venom she hadn't been warned of in her studies. The thought of the agonizing pain it probably would cause sent shivers down her spine and momentarily distracted her from the next lunging attack, which she narrowly avoided.

The fight quickly fell into a pattern, mostly consisting of Nora dodging the lunging attacks from both heads and searching for an opening to attack as well, to no avail. The most she could do was draw it away from the town, and she tried her best to do so, aiming several shots from Magnhild at the Grimm's long body to distract it. It followed her outside the fence and across the road to open countryside on the other end.

Seconds turned to minutes, and she struggled to find an opening. Each time she managed to push back one head, the other shot towards her and forced her to reconsider her actions.

Familiar shots rang out, drawing her eyes away from the Grimm and instead towards Ren, who was coming towards her at full speed.

"I've got the white head, you get the other one!" she called to him, glad for the help. His arrival was a distraction and before she knew it—

Pain filled her side, spreading quickly. She pushed it back, gripping Magnhild with both hands. They had one shot at getting it down. She couldn't let a bit of pain get to her. It wasn't the first time she'd been hurt in the fray and it wouldn't be the last time.

Ren had made quick work of the black head. "Distract it, Nora!"

The snake head turned back to her as he used his Semblance to mask himself a little better. Attacking with the ranged form of the hammer, though, was much more difficult with Ren around. She didn't want to accidentally hit him. Every shot she fired went wide. She wasn't going to risk it.

When the second head fell to the ground as well and the snake's body slumped down, Nora did the same. She felt weak and the pain was spreading through her side once more, tearing through her body at an alarming rate. Ren seemed to notice and sped over to her, scooping her in his arms with a worried frown.

"Did it bite—"

She nodded. "Yeah. And poisoned me. We got it down, though. We got them both down and the town is safe," she murmured with a faint smile. "No more orphans."

"You're going to be okay, I promise you you'll be alright." He sounded desperate. Scared. "We got help for Qrow, we can easily get help for you."

"We were in a big city then," she weakly reminded him. "Here—there's nothing here." With one hand, she pulled him closer. "But there's you and me, right? That's how it's always been. We don't need anybody else right now. All I need to know is that you're here, Ren."

He chuckled, but she could tell it was forced and unnatural. He wanted to comfort her. "You make it seem like you aren't going to survive. But you need to survive. I can't…" _I can't lose you, too._

"You'll always have me," she promised, leaning up to kiss him.

Neither of them rushed it. A soft, sweet kiss for their last one was fitting, she thought. Her free hand weaves through his hair, recalling every time she'd wanted to touch it and hadn't gotten the chance to. He was gentle as ever, holding her as though she'd shatter.

The poison was quick. She closed her eyes tight as the pain became overwhelming and fought back screams of agony. Through the pain she heard him say he'd always be hers.

And then there was nothing.


	3. Chapter 3 - Pyrrha

It was a JNR tradition to go visit Pyrrha's statue every year, and Ren was not letting that tradition go. He'd watched a raging fire engulf his leader and had seen a quick-acting poison take from him the woman he loved. These moments, these hardships, would not stop him from remembering those he loved. And in the process of mourning Pyrrha, he could mourn the rest of his team.

The eerie emptiness of the town was unfamiliar, but he knew that most of the citizens had been escorted out by other Huntsmen. He hadn't done much to help; it had all happened months before when he was still deep in his misery. Nora's death had been hard on him, as expected, and none of his remaining friends had been able to help him out of his near-depressive state. They'd barely been able to coax words back out of him, and once they had, those words were scarce. He preferred to remain silent.

In his bag were framed pictures of Nora and Jaune. He kept a hand against them as he walked in the cover of night, down main streets and past memorials for the fallen Huntsmen and Huntresses of his time. As he paused before Qrow Branwen's plaque, tarnished and scratched from the more recent Grimm attacks, he frowned. Someone had recently left roses.

"You didn't tell us you were heading out," Jaune's sister, Saphron, said. She stepped up beside him, holding in her hand a small cluster of flowers. "We were worried."

Ren sighed. Saphron and Terra had been kind enough to let him stay at their house, and yet this was how he treated them? "I'm sorry. I was just…"

"On your way to visit them," she finished. "I know. Do you mind if I join you?"

"If you'd like." He placed a hand on the plaque for Qrow before continuing his walk.

She nodded, matching his pace. "So much has happened recently. Are you sure you're alright to go back out and work?"

No.

He wasn't sure he was. In fact he wasn't sure he'd ever be. Hunting the Grimm had been his goal in life, what he'd assumed was his purpose. But every time he considered it now, it just brought up the bad memories.

The scales of the King Taijitu, shining under the faint light of the evening Nora died.

The heat of the flames against his arm as he stood, incapable of preventing Jaune's death.

The flash of light from years ago, a light he'd always associated with death and Pyrrha even though it saved him and so many others when wielded by Ruby.

No, he wasn't sure he was alright to go back out and work. But he was sure it was his duty to do so, and that was a fact he couldn't ignore.

"I have to help out," he said after what felt like an eternity of silence. "It's what people like me are meant to do."

Saphron shook her head. "No. People like you are no different from the rest of us. All you're meant to do is live." There were tears pooling in her eyes, falling onto the bouquet in her hands. "You've got to live, Ren. For all of them."

He knew what she was thinking of and kept silent. The memory replayed in his mind, over and over, as it must've done for her time and time again.

"Please. Live the way Jaune—the way they _all_ couldn't live," she continued. "There are other ways to help than fighting. Evacuations are necessary everywhere and the more people who can help, the better."

Ren stopped as he neared the statue. "I'll be fine, if that's what you're worried about," he promised. "And I'll help with the evacuations once I have the chance. You know there are still a lot of Grimm around these parts."

Her tear-filled eyes on the statue, Saphron nodded. "Alright. I'll be back at the house, and we'll have food ready for when you get back." She pushed the flowers into his hands and gave him a shaky smile.

She walked away without another word, leaving Ren alone and standing before the statue of Pyrrha.

The flowers surrounding it had long withered away without the care of the city, but someone had been keeping the memorial in good condition and it showed. Ren removed the first of the two the pictures from his bag. He felt tears fall across his cheeks and wiped them away from the frame of Jaune's picture as he looked over one of the only remaining pictures of his friend.

Jaune's picture was from a year before his death, when they'd returned to Vale for the first time since the fall of Beacon. He was grinning from ear to ear, holding in one hand a scroll and in the other, a plastic trophy given to him by Adrian. " _I can't believe I'm your favourite uncle!"_ , Jaune had said when he'd first received it in the mail. " _He doesn't have any other uncles,"_ Saphron had said back over the call. It had been one of their best moments of the year, right before they'd been called to a town near Argus where the six sisters had been staying for a family trip.

Right before they took one step closer towards their destiny, and Jaune's imminent death.

Ren still had that trophy, hidden away under his bed in the Cotta-Arc house along with a lot of his teammates' other belongings. Nobody touched them anymore.

After setting the frame down next to Pyrrha's feet, he pulled out the photo of Nora.

The picture had been taken years ago, while they'd been in Atlas. She was smiling there, all aglow with happiness in the pale light. There was snow in her hair, and he remembered them spending twenty minutes outside trying to see who could catch the most snowflakes on their tongue before Jaune called them inside. "You always beat me," he murmured with a sad smile, the words escaping him before he even realized.

He fell to his knees as sobs wracked his body. "I can't believe you're gone." In his hand was the bouquet of flowers, and he held them close, crushing the red, yellow, and pink flowers beneath his grip.

His scroll was ringing, cutting through the silence and his sobs. As he let go of them, the petals piled up around his feet and the base of the statue.

It was Ruby calling. "Ren! You're alright, good," she said with a sigh of relief. "Look—I know what day it is. I'm sorry. But you need to leave Argus _right now_. Get Saphron and Terra and Adrian and _get out of there_."

"There's nothing here. No reason to leave," he replied as he stood. More petals fell from his pants and pooled around him. "Grimm haven't attacked in weeks."

Ruby's voice was frantic as she replied, "Well, they're attacking now. So _go_." She hung up.

He was alone as the sirens went off in the city.

Those sirens hadn't gone off in weeks, since the last big Grimm attack, and it was a telltale sign that Ruby had been right. Which meant he really needed to do what she'd suggested.

As he turned from the statue to the street that would lead him home, he found himself face to face with a nevermore.

Or two.

Or ten.

 _Well._

He had StormFlower in his hands within seconds. More nevermore approached from behind, and he did his best to fight them off.

One after the other, they approached and fell. One by one, their crumbled bodies faded into the night. Their dust scattered past him, and he hurried to rush past them and return home. The odds that everyone had heard the alarms were high, but he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk letting anyone else die.

If he could stop it, he would. That was what he'd become a Huntsman for. That was his responsibility, and that was why he had to try.

As more Grimm stepped up and as he cut them down, a crash resounded behind him. He turned towards the statue—

And watched it crash.

Watched it _fall_.

* * *

This should've been done _ages_ ago, I'm so sorry. I just wasn't sure where to go with Pyrrha's chapter (a funeral? Memorial?) but the new volume gave me something to work with, so I just ran with it. Let's watch them all fall :)


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